


A Mission Gone FUBAR - 2001

by FemSanzo291



Series: Keeping Secrets [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Deaf Clint Barton, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 20:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19158559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemSanzo291/pseuds/FemSanzo291
Summary: Strike Team Delta made up of three distinguished SHIELD agents, Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, and Alea Carter. They are looking for their fourth member and the mission goes horribly wrong. This is the fallout of that mission.





	A Mission Gone FUBAR - 2001

With the advent of Strike Team Delta came the problem of finding a third field agent that wasn't their handler. While Coulson was a good field agent he didn't quite want to continue in fieldwork, and after dislocating his hip he really couldn't continue in fieldwork. It did not help that both Alea and Clint were more useful from a distance than up close and that often caused some issues in missions. So, that had them going through potential close up fighter matches that SHIELD had.

 

Once such event happened with a young agent by the name of Young. It had been a simple mission that was almost completed before it went all up in flames.

 

Alea was getting ready to integrate one of the people that they had captured when Young returned to the safe house. He hadn't realized that he was being tailed and when they broke in after Young had locked the door back.

 

Alea had been unprepared and her gun was across the room, but Clint had been out on the fire escape with his bow and arrows. There were too many intruders for them to take on and Clint couldn't fire many arrows because of space.

 

Young went down fast, and Alea being overwhelmed by the number of people fighting hand to hand and while Clint was using his bow as a staff they were still being overwhelmed. Clint pulled an arrow out of his quiver and Alea noticed it was a sonic one and covered her ears.

 

Clint slammed the arrow into the ground setting off the arrowhead. When the sonic noise reached the infiltrators they dropped to the ground. Once it was over Clint also fell to the ground bleeding from his ears. Alea felt her eardrums rupture, but she ignored what was probably some blood running from her ears to get her team out.

 

She was glad that the quinjet was parked not far from the safe house and she managed to get all of their necessities packed earlier and the both of the captives on the jet.

 

She picked up Clint and carted him to the jet before doing the same to Young. It was when she was closing up the jet that she realized that she couldn't hear at all. Not for the first time, she would be flying deaf with no way to fix it. She got the jet ready to go and up in the air in less than ten minutes.

 

Not long after taking off she noticed that her eyesight was going. She cursed and pulled her bag to her. She had to keep a steady hand on the controls or risk dropping them out if the sky because there was no autopilot system on the jet.

 

She opened the bag and when she reached for her glass bottles of medicine she noticed that both had shattered. She cursed aloud before focusing back on flying them as far as she could.

 

Three minutes later Clint walked up to her and motioned for her to give him the controls. She noted the blood still sliding down the sides of his head, but at least he could still see. She allowed him to take the controls before sliding out of the chair and strapping into one of the passenger seats.

 

Soon she was totally blind and when the plane went down her only thought was that at least SHIELD would come and get them. Just before passing out she wondered if anyone else was awake or even alive.

 

It was at least three hours before SHIELD made it to the wrecked remains and started to sift through it. At first, they wondered why it went down, but stop wondering upon finding Alea laying there still strapped into her seat.

 

Coulson walked over to her and moved her around. He noticed the dried blood on both sides of her head before checking her pulse. She still had one and when her eyes opened but didn’t focus on anything Coulson knew she was blind.

 

“Coulson, that you?” Alea’s voice was slow and there was a heavy lisp that she didn’t seem to notice. Coulson moved his left hand to her right and tapped out yes in morse code.

 

“I hope you brought one of my vials.”

 

Coulson replies with a tapped out no. Alea sighed before unbuckling herself. She then stood and managed to stay on her own feet. Coulson took her arm to help guide her around the destroyed quinjet.

 

“Who all was with you?” Coulson tapped out.

 

“We had two captives, Young was in the seat closest to the ramp, and Clint was flying.” Alea tried to pull away from Coulson, but he had a firm grip on her.

 

“Come on, Alea. Let me get you out to the van.” Alea still tried to pull away before relenting.

 

“Not leaving without Clint.” Alea did allow Coulson to guide her out to the van that he had come in.

 

“I know. I'll bring Clint to the same van that you are in no matter what alright. Is there anything that you need off the jet?”

 

“My bag and Clint's. His weaponry too.”

 

Coulson nodded and as he headed back he gave orders to make sure Alea stayed where he put her. He quickly made his way back to the quinjet and when they brought the gurney with Clint laying on it he directed it to his van. They nodded and got him over there and loaded into the van.

 

Coulson quickly dug through and found Alea and Clint’s bags and Clint’s bow. His quiver was tossed against the wall and while mostly empty he grabbed it and headed back out to the van so they could leave. He made it out to the van and saw that Alea’s left hand was gripping Clint’s.

 

Once he was strapped into the van next to Alea they headed off to the closest SHIELD facility.

 

“Coulson, where exactly are we?” Alea asked as they unloaded her and Clint. She had a grip on both Clint’s gurney and Coulson’s arm.

 

“We’re in London. Clint couldn’t drive straight enough for you guys to reach the US.” Coulson helped her sit down on an examination table not far from Clint. They would have to take both of them back for examination one at a time, but Coulson fist needed to see if he couldn’t find out where there was a vile of Alea’s medications.

 

“Alea, does Peggy Carter have a vile of your eye medication?” Alea nods and he goes off to call her to bring it to them. Once he returns to Alea’s side knowing that Carter was coming as soon as possible with the vile and one of her needles. He helps her move to a bed and lay down so they can take her back for imaging and walks back with her.

 

They move her to lay on the table for a CT scan and the tests come back that it probably only a busted eardrum and that they would heal on their own. They were led back out into the medical room where Peggy Carter was waiting.

 

Coulson was pulled aside by Clint's doctor to tell him that along with busted eardrums he also had shattered the bones in his ears and that he would need surgery to either remove the bone shards or repair them and a decision would need to be made at that time. He also was told that Young's eardrums needed to be surgically repaired and that was going on now.

 

Carter moved to help the medical team shift Alea back to a normal bed and then rolled her onto her side. Tapping Alea on her side before pushing up her shirt up to her upper back. Revealing a purple and black piece of technology that allowed her to walk unaided.

 

“Her eye medication is injected into her neck isn't it?” Coulson asked as Carter prepared the injection.

 

“Normally yes. I found out that I didn't have a non-mixed version of it. This one is all three of them even though she no longer needs the spinal one.”  Carter inserts the needle before pushing the plunger down. She then pulled Alea's shirt back down over her back.

 

“So do you know sign language?”  Carter asked as she rolled Alea to her back.

 

Coulson replied by signing,  “Both Alea and Clint have been teaching me.” Carter nodded before looking over at Clint. He was laid peacefully on a bed with an oxygen mask and a heart monitor beeping beside him, he was still dressed in his mission clothes.

 

Alea sat up herself and looked over at Clint before turning to Coulson. “What's our prognosis?” 

 

“You and Young both have busted eardrums. Young has gone into surgery for his, they think yours will heal on their own. Clint has busted eardrums too, but he also has shattered the three bones in his ears. He will need to have surgery to determine if they will need to repair or remove the shards.” Coulson signed to Alea. She nodded and shifted a little to move to the edge of the bed.

 

She then stands and walks over to Clint. She leans over and whispers, “I’m unable to heal your ears, Clint, sorry.” Before walking back to her bed and laying down again.

 

Coulson walked off to find the doctor to get Clint back into surgery. They needed to transfer him back to New York or DC soon and they wouldn't be able to do that with his ears still they mess that they were. With Alea unable to heal Clint it was likely she was already working on something in her head to repair his hearing.

 

Once Clint took back to have the surgery done Coulson went to find rooms for both him and Alea. He knew that he could leave Alea with Carter and she would stay calm. It took him some time to find a single room let alone two on the same floor so he gave up on doing so and went to collect Alea.

 

Once he made it back he saw Alea and Carter talking about something along the lines of fixing Clint’s ears. He moved into Alea's eye line and signed, _“_ Come, Alea, you need rest and I found a room.” 

 

She nods and follows Coulson to the second-floor room. She immediately goes to the only bed. She strips off her shirt and paints before getting under the covers. Coulson goes over to the chair and sits down. He watches during the night to make sure that Alea keeps breathing.

 

Just over three months later Alea implanted a set of three replacement bones in Clint’s head. It allowed him to return to using his hearing aids. He hadn’t been able to use them after the removal of the bones. It also allowed for them to return to work as a team, Alea’s ears having healed about a month before.


End file.
